Colobsb besie



R. D. BONER.

Patented Oct. 5, 1920.

Pl-' @UWG-LAS BONER', l? URBANA, ILLIDTGES.

.application nled @ctober e, i919.

To of] to from it may con ccf/qa lie it known that l, RALPH D. Donna, a citizen o?? the United States, and a resident of Urbana, in thc county ot Champaign and State ot lllinois, have invented a new and useful improvement in Colored Designs and Processes of? Producing the Sanne, et which the following is a i'ull, clear, and exact descri ition.

ly invention relates to improvements in colored designs and process of producing the same, -and it consists in the combinations, constructions yand arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a process, by means of which articles, such as ewelry, signs, articles having decorative borders, etc., may be provided with colored designs without the use oi paints, pigments, enamels, or any other means of coloring in which the color is actually applied to the design.

A further object of my invention is to provide a process for producing novel effects of colored designs which cannot be produced by the use of colored pigments.

A further object of my invention is to provide novel designs in which color is obtained by diffraction.

A further object of my invention is to provide designs in which an unlimited combination ot shades or colors may be had by varying the rulings, as by varying the number, direction, or spacing of lines which are ruled on the surface upon whieh'the design is to appear.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the novel features of the invention will be particularlv pointed out in the appended claims.

ly invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming part of this application, in which- Figure 1 is a face View of a design produced in accordance with my invention,

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are views of modified ,y forms of designs,

Fig. 5 is a side View of a ring having a desi n made thereon,

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the ring shown in Fig. 5, and

Fig. 'l' is an end view of another modified former the invention.

ln carrying out my invention, l make use of a so called diffraction grating. AThis consists of a plane surface of glass, specu- Speciilcaton o Letters Patent.

Patented Serial No. 323,850.

lum, Celluloid, or the like, on which ruled. by means ot a sharp point, par-- allel lines equally spaced. Heretofore, such surfaces have been used in conjunction with other optical apparatus, such as lenses, slits, collimators, etc.; that is, the ruled surface plays only an intermediate part, in that light reflected or transmitted by this surface undergoes diffraction, while the general appearance of the surface is not involved. ln the present invention, l makeduse of this principle of diff action to produce colored eiiects on the surface, which is otherwise plane and blank.4

Fig. 1 illustrates one form of the invention. ln this figure, the plane surface l is ruled with a'ser1cs or very iine parallel lines 2, the rulings conforming to the outline oit' the letter A. For the purpose of the patent .applicatiom and to illustrate the rulings,

they are shown as visible, but in actual practice, the rulings are so small and so close together, there being 1from one thousand to ten thousand or more rulings per inch, that the "rulings themselves are substantially invisible to the naked eye. rl`he ligure or character, however, is visible when viewed from certain angles.

ln Fig. 2 the rulings are made upon the background 3, while the letter l is left un.- ruled. ln this form the background is colored, due to the diffraction etlect, While the letteritself may be uncolored, or may be of any suitable color which will contrast with the color given out by the background,- when viewed from certain angles.

ln Fig. 3 the contrast between the background and the letter is obtained by ruling the background 5 with parallel lines and ruling the letter 6 with parallel lines disposed at an angle to the lines of the background. ln this instance the contrast in the color effect is obtained, because one always views the background and the character/ or figure thereon at different angles with' respect to the directions of the rulings.

In Fig. 4e the ellect ot' contrast between the background and the letter thereon is secured by ruling the background 7 with a series ot parallel lines spaced at equal distances apa-rt, and ruling the letter 8 with parallel lines spaced equally apart, but at a greater distance apart than the lines cn the background.

ln Figs. 5 and (3 l have shown a ring 9 having an ornamental top l() in the shape CIS of a pyramid, the faces lof the pyramid being ruled with lines 1'1, 12, 13 and 14 at dif- ..ferent angles, so that when the ring is viewed', the line of sight will meet the surfaceshaving the ruled 4lines at different angles to these ruled lines, and thus giving a contrasting effect which changes as the finger on which the ringis disposed is shifted. The result is a very pleasing color effect which is constantly changing.

Obviously thesame effect may be produced if the ruled surfaces are covered with a transparent medium. Thus in Fig. 7 I have shown in section an opaque plate 15, the inner face of which is ruled at 16 with a series of fine parallel lines, and is covered by some transparent medium, such as a glass plate'17. When viewed on the side of the glass plate, this surface gives the color effects which may be heightened by the use of the transparent medium.

Any suitable form of apparatus may be used for ruling or grooving these surfaces.

It will be understood that when I speak of designs, I mean' tol include figures, embleins, geometric forms, as Well as the backgrounds upon which such figures, emblems, or geometric forms are made.

It is not necessary for a surface to be ruled by means of a sharp point in the manner described, but it may be ruled in any suitable manner which will give the desired effect, such as by stamping or impressing theJ lines on a surface by means of another ruled surface.

I claim:

l. The herein described process of producing colored designs and backgrounds therefor which consists in ruling the entire area of one of said portions with a series of fine parallel grooves spaced at equal distances apart, whereby the design is made to stand out in contrast with the background.

2. rIhe herein described process of producing colored designs and backgrounds therefor which consists in ruling the entire area of one of said portions with a series of line parallel grooves spaced at equal distances apart, and in ruling the other portions with a series of fine parallel lines of different relative arrangement, whereby ay contrasting colored eifect between the design and the background is produced.

3. The herein described process of producing colored designs upon plane surfaces by configuration of portions of the surface having series' of fine parallel equidistant grooves ruled thereon and other portions of the said surface having fine parallel equidistant grooves ruled thereon, the grooves in the last named portions of the surface being spaced at a different distance from the spacing of the grooves in the first named portions.

4. The herein described process of producing colored designs upon surfaces by configuration of portions of the surface having series of fine parallel equidistant grooves ruled thereon and other portions of the said surface having fine parallel equidistant grooves ruled thereon, the grooves in the last named portions of the surface being spaced at a different distance from the spacing of the grooves in the first named portions.

RALPH DOUGLAS BONER. 

